Elton John recently had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about LGBT rights in Russia. Except, they didn’t? Elton was certain the call took place, posting a picture of the Russian leader to his Instagram with a caption about the call. If that wasn’t enough, Elton went on to say that Putin had invited him to Russia to discuss these issues face to face. The problem? Putin’s camp denied that the phone call ever took place.
As it turns out, the phone call Elton had was actually with two Russian comedians, Vladimir Krasnov and Alexei Stolyarov, also known in Russia as Vovan and Lexus. The pair duped John into thinking that he was speaking with Putin, impersonating the president and his translator while speaking to Elton about LGBT issues for more than 10 minutes. Those pranksters have now released audio of the phone call, as you can hear above.
The above was posted to John’s Instagram on Thursday morning with the caption. Obviously, he’s still willing to talk to the real Putin. And he might get his wish; when denying that the original phone call took place, Putin’s spokesperson said, “If the president receives an indication that Elton John wants to talk, he is open to discussing any societal problems and issues… Putin is always ready to explain how things really are.” As for Vovan and Lexus, these Russian Jerky Boys should just stay under their bridge and leave Elton John alone.
(via Spin)
